


You Still Care

by messedupstargazer



Series: Dating Your Arch-Nemesis [1]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Barry and Len were dating, But neither knew the others secret identities, Hurt Barry, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Panicked Len, Please Don't Hate Me, Secret Identities Suck, Until they did
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-08 21:01:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8861896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/messedupstargazer/pseuds/messedupstargazer
Summary: Barry and Len used to be Barry and Len before they found out each other's secret identities.  Now it's just Captain Cold and the Flash.  But when Pied Piper takes things too far, Len panics and can't help his emotions anymore.





	

Fighting the Flash always made his heart hurt now. When he and Barry had broken up over the hero and criminal alter egos, Len thought that he no longer wanted the attention of the Scarlet Speedster. He had been very wrong as he needed to see Barry, even if they were on opposite sides.

While dating him, he knew keeping his identity secret from Barry had been very important, but he thought it was because he knew Barry was with the CCPD. And he knew Barry would take him in if he found out he was Captain Cold. Now Barry had no choice since he was afraid that Len would reveal that Barry was the Flash to all the world. Len wouldn’t, even for someone like Captain Cold, he couldn’t do that to the man he had once loved. But they had barely spoken outside of their alter egos since the night Barry had figured his identity out.

_“I can't believe you never told me!” Barry shouted, tears in his eyes, anger and hurt in his voice._

_“What was I supposed to say?” Len had shouted right back. “Hi babe, I know you're the Flash, and guess what, I'm Captain Cold! I'm your arch-nemesis. Isn't that great, honey?”_

_“Stop calling me that!” Barry snapped. “You don’t get to call me that anymore! You've known for two months that I was the Flash. And still Captain Cold has been robbing and trying to kill me.”_

_“I would never have actually hit you.” Len pleaded. “I just didn’t want you to find out!”_

_“Well, maybe you should wear more than a parka and goggles for a uniform, huh?” Barry’s voice seemed laced with poison, it stung so._

_Suddenly, Barry went quiet._

_“You're never going to give it up, are you?” Barry whispered, tears rolling down his face._

_“What are you talking about?” Len frowned. “We’ve had sex before.”_

_Barry flushed angrily. “No, I mean being Captain Cold. You're never going to give that part of you up.”_

_Len paused. To be honest, he had thought of it but he was still so undecided. He loved the thrill of the chase, the puzzle with Barry, the challenge of it all. He also loved Barry, who would never sway from the side of the law._

_“You can't even answer me.” Barry scoffed._

_“No, please, Bar.” Len tried but Barry shook his head._

_“I can't do this.” Barry sobbed, and Len’s heart tightened. “I can't be in a relationship with Captain Cold. I'm sorry.”_

_“We can do this.” Len pushed but Barry just shook his head again._

_“Please don’t tell anyone out of spite.” Barry gasped and sped out of Len’s apartment. Len couldn’t stop him._  


Now he knew Barry thought Len was taking his anger out on Barry because of the break-up. If Barry needed to think that so he could be okay, then that was fine. But Len knew he just needed to check up on his speedster, if he couldn’t as Leonard Snart. Barry wasn’t looking all that well in these last three weeks. He knew Barry, who probably wasn’t sleeping nor eating enough since the break-up. A lot of Barry’s habits were self-destructive. At least he had his friends to watch out for him.

As Captain Cold fired another shot that he knew the Flash would dodge, something blew them both off balance. A boy Len recognized as Pied Piper, someone who hated Barry almost as much as Captain Cold was supposed to. Len saw Barry go flying and land on top of a car. He winced uncontrollably. Even with Barry’s speed healing, that would still hurt like a bitch.

“Cold, thought you could use some help.” The boy’s voice was smooth and controlled, just as Barry had described.

“I don’t need help.” Certainly not if it put Barry in real danger. “The Flash is mine!”

“Tsk-tsk, didn’t your mother ever teach you to share your toys?” Pied Piper grinned.

Then he went flying as Barry punched him at high speed. Barry turned back to him, looking just as betrayed as he did that night. Len shook his head feverently, trying to show this was not his idea.

Confusion entered Barry's perfect green eyes but Piper used that confusion to catch him off guard. Sonic blast after sonic blast hit Barry, slamming him into a lamppost, a car headfirst, even through a window.

“Stop.” Len found his voice. Even if Barry didn’t want him, he wasn’t going to let Barry die before him.

“Oh, I suppose you want a crack at him too.” Piper had a strange look on his face. Len stood on shaky legs, those sonic blasts were powerful, and walked over to Pied Piper, waiting for Barry to get back up. A quick glance showed Barry unconscious and bleeding from a cut on his temple, the blood dripping down the suit. Fire and ice swept through Len’s veins.

So when he got to Piper, he punched him right in the face.

“I told you, the Flash is mine!” Len growled as panic started to flood his system, as Barry still hadn't gotten up.

He ran to Flash’s side, and gently cupped his face. Barry didn’t even flinch. Len’s fingers went to Barry’s throat and a small bit of relief peaked through at Barry’s pulse. But there was something unnatural about it. He didn’t know if this was too fast or slow or correct for the Flash. Len had never taken his lover’s pulse before. Deciding that there wasn’t a chance in hell that Barry was going to die by this punk’s hand, he hoisted Barry into his arms. He had a getaway car right there and loaded Barry into it with shaking hands. Barry made no indication that he was aware of what happened. It took a couple tries but eventually he had Barry buckled in. Then he pulled out his gun and froze Piper to the ground for the police who were quickly approaching. He wanted to kill the stupid idiot, but he knew his Flash wouldn’t appreciate that so he kept it down, for Barry's sake.

“Babe?” Len whispered. “Come on, baby, wake up.”

Still Barry stayed unconscious. So Len just floored it to STAR Labs. He knew that was Barry’s headquarters as the Flash, Barry had told him the night Leonard met the Flash, and they had to have doctors. There had to be someone who could help Barry. Len’s right hand went to Barry’s nose, and was completely relieved to find breathe there and his hand found Barry’s. He squeezed, perhaps a little harder than necessary, but Barry didn’t squeeze back.

Len put his hand against Barry's chest when he slammed on the brakes as he got to STAR Labs. He threw off his seatbelt, along with Barry's and maneuvered them both out of the car, his gun in hand. He raced inside, running as fast as he possibly could, and soon found himself faced with Barry's friends, Caitlyn, Cisco and Dr. Wells. They all looked on in shock and apprehension.

“Fix him!” Len demanded, pointing his gun at them.

Caitlyn seemed to recover first and nodded. “Follow me.”

He permitted neither male to take Barry from him as Caitlyn led him down a hallway that obviously led to a make-shift hospital. There lay a couple hospital beds and Len put Barry down as gently as he could on the one Caitlyn had pointed to.

Caitlyn went to remove the mask, to see the damage, but hesitated.

“Fix him.” Len repeated.

She still looked between Barry's face to him.

“I know who he is and I'm not going to tell anyone.” He swore.

“Then there's no need for that gun.” Caitlyn sounded braver than her eyes showed her to be. “We’re his friends, we just want to help him too.”

Len pointed the weapon in the air, but didn't release the trigger.

Caitlyn and Cisco went to work around Len, who wouldn’t move and both were too afraid to ask.

“Captain?” Dr. Wells, not the Wells who was Thawne but a different one according to Barry, asked. “If you want Flash to be fixed, please step this way. I have a way you can help.”

Len shifted his gaze between Caitlyn and Cisco, as if daring them to make a mistake while he was gone, and walked a couple steps over to Wells.

“What is it?” Len asked. “How can I help?”

“First off, you can let Dr. Snow and Ramon do their jobs.” Wells said, his voice eerily similar to that of the Thawne-Wells. “Second, you can tell us exactly what happened and why Barry's communicator went dark.”

Len then told exactly what happened, emphasizing that he would never team up with Piper, he wanted vengeance and Cold wanted money, and exactly what Barry was slammed into before he collapsed. The panic and adrenaline, an unwelcome rush for the first time in a long time, began to fade as he told the story and soon he found himself in a chair.

“You can save him, can't you?” Len sighed as he removed his goggles.

“Of course-” Cisco turned to speak to him and his eyes bulged as he saw Leonard. Caitlyn turned and the same shell-shocked look went on her face.

“I thought Barry would've told you who I was.” Len groaned, rubbing a hand across his face. “Apparently not.”

“No, he didn’t.” Wells found his voice first, probably because he didn’t know the history of Captain Cold and the Flash.

“Barry's dating Captain Cold?” Cisco asked, incredulous.

Len pointed the gun straight back at Cisco. “Doesn’t look like you're saving him to me.”

Cisco put up his hands and focused on Barry. Afterwards, they spoke no words, although a little non-verbal communication did happen, usually Len pointing his cold gun at someone.

Finally, after what felt like years, Cisco and Caitlyn stepped back, their muscles relaxing.

“Well?” Len snapped.

“It looks like he has a severe concussion, blunt force trauma, a cracked skull and a few other broken bones but with his healing, he should be up in less than a day.” Caitlyn smiled gently but awkwardly at Len.

Len nodded and stood. “Don’t tell him I was here.”

“Did you two break up?” Cisco asked, and then his mouth snapped shut, like he hadn't meant to ask.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.” Len growled. “Wait, if he only had a few broken bones then why didn’t he wake up? Doesn’t he usually heal quickly?”

“Head trauma is the hardest to heal, even for Barry.” Caitlyn started. “And taking that many hits directly to the head so quick after another, even Barry needs time to recover. A normal person would've died, probably after hitting the car.”

Len nodded. That was a scary thought but Len pushed it down. Barry was alive and that’s what mattered.

He went to leave again.

“You should stay.” Wells said. “Barry will want to know who saved him.”

Len didn’t answer him, he simply walked out of the door. Once arriving home, or at least his apartment, it didn’t feel like much of a home without Barry in it, he collapsed onto his own bed and let exhaustion and fear do the rest.

Lisa woke him a little while later. He had told her of how Barry had left, omitting the Flash part. He knew she assumed this was grief.

“You have to get over him, you know.” Lisa said.

“I have to hack STAR Labs security.” Len challenged.

Seeing the change for what it was but letting it go, she nodded. “Why?”

“They have something there I want.” Or someone but Lisa didn’t need to know that.

“A heist?” Lisa asked excitedly.

“I'm not sure yet.” Len admitted. “Depends on if it really does what I want it too.”

Lisa nodded and left Len to his own designs, as she usually did for the research part of the heist. Lisa was all about the action, not the prep.

It didn’t take long to hack STAR Labs video, it seemed they never thought anyone would spy on them, and soon Len found himself looking over Barry. He was conscious, which made his gut twist with relief and fear at the same time, but confused. He wondered if Barry's friends would actually not tell him who brought him to them. They seemed like good people and good people usually respected requests but from a very bad person who was no longer dating their friend? He wasn’t sure.

It seemed Caitlyn was keeping Barry under surveillance for the night. Dr. Wells seemed to be doing the surveilling. Cisco and Caitlyn left around the same time, probably to return to their lives outside of superhero work. He waited until Barry fell asleep again until he made the decision to return. He knew it was a bad idea to go back but something was drawing him to his love’s side. He couldn’t help it, and what Barry didn’t know couldn’t hurt him.

Sneaking back into STAR Labs was easy, and it didn’t take long for Dr. Wells to leave the room for a moment. He crept to Barry's bedside, and checked the display on the heart monitor. He seemed fine, but with the Flash, Len was a little lost.

“I told them you'd come.” Barry's soft and tired voice startled him.

He turned and saw Barry with a neutral expression trying to hide how exhausted he clearly was.

“They tell you?” Len asked, his voice almost inaudible even to himself.

“You really need to be a better judge of character.” Barry chuckled lightly. “They're all terrible liars. Well, except Wells but he usually stays out of it.”

Len nods. “So you weaseled it out of them.”

“Wasn’t hard.” Barry snorted. “Besides, I know you. At least, I thought I did.”

That one hurt. Except for the Captain Cold bit, Len hadn't been the one who was secretive about the relationship.

“I'm not the only one who lied about their extra-curricular occupation.” Len reminded.

Barry nodded. “That is true.”

“You should be resting.” Len suggested, sitting down in the chair once occupied by Wells.

“You still care about me.” It wasn’t a question but neither was a statement of fact.

Deciding that if lying got him in this situation, maybe honesty could get him out.

“I never stopped.” Len admitted, fighting down a blush. “You were the one who left that night.”

“You're Captain Cold!” Barry snapped. “How else was I supposed to react?”

“Oh maybe the same way I did when I found out you were the Flash.” Len reacted.

_Len had come home early than planned since the Flash had stopped his and Lisa’s heist. He wasn’t upset, he was even glad that he had seen the Flash. That meant the game had leveled up, and they both lived to fight another day. He got undressed, hid his uniform, and changed into some pajamas. Barry would be coming to have a movie night with him after ‘work’ and so he had time to recharge before his boyfriend showed up._

_Which was apparently right now. Through the door at a speed no normal human could ever achieve. Barry saw him and froze, with his doe-eyes giving a perfect impression of deer-in-the-headlights._

_He was dating the Flash._

Shit.

_“I didn’t think you'd be home so soon.” Barry whispered._

_“Got off early.” Len responded._

_Barry opened his mouth, as if trying to normalize what he had just done but then just closed it._

_“You're the Flash?” Len needed him to say it, because hopefully Barry just had powers and wasn’t his arch-nemesis._

_“I swear, Len, I wanted to tell you but…” Barry trailed off, tears welling up in his eyes._

_Len held out his arms and Barry gladly rushed into them._

_“I wanted to keep you safe from all this.” Barry hissed. “Please don’t be mad.”_

_“I'm not mad.” How could Len be mad? He was doing the exact same for Barry's sake._

_“You're not?” Barry asked, as if waiting for the other shoe to drop._

_Len shook his head. “How could I be? You saved the world.”_

_The relief on Barry's face was almost sickening. He knew not everyone had reacted the same way and it made his blood boil. If Barry was willing to risk his life, then the people around him should be damn ass grateful he let them in on the secret._

_“Come on.” Len walked them over to the couch. “Movie first, so you can calm down, and then you can tell me everything.”_

“I have to admit, I think I was a pretty good boyfriend about that.” Len insisted.

“You still lied to me, after I came clean to you.” Barry countered.

“I didn’t tell you for the same reason you didn’t tell me!” Len replied. “I was trying to keep you safe. That way, when you fought Captain Cold, you wouldn’t hold back or do something ridiculously stupid and noble.”

“Like driving to STAR Labs out of panic?” Barry teased.

“Yes, like that.” Len grumbled, stood and walked away from Barry, unable to look him in the eye. “And so you wouldn’t hate me.”

“Why would I hate you?” Barry asked, sitting up slightly.

Len rolled his eyes, walked back over and pushed him back down, which wasn’t hard. “Oh I don’t know, over how many times Cold has betrayed you or tried to kill you?”

Barry frowned. “I didn’t even think of that.”

“Really?” Len snorted. “You must be shit at your job.”

“No, I just never thought I would hate you.” Barry clarified. “I still don’t.”

Len looked Barry in his perfect green eyes that Len was so glad to see. “Then why did you leave?”

“Cut me some slack, I just found out my boyfriend was my arch-nemesis.” Barry groaned.

“But you didn’t just leave the room, Bar.” When Barry didn’t stop him from the nickname, he continued. “You said you couldn’t do this.”

“I thought I couldn’t at the time.” Barry shrugged, then winced and Len was reminded of everything wrong with Barry.

“Why don’t we continue this once you're healed?” Len offered. “You need rest in order to heal.”

“I'm fine.” At Len's raised eyebrow, he sighed. “I'm mostly fine. All right I'm less than fine but I'm getting there.”

Len sat down on Barry's bedside, and relished that Barry didn’t negate the closeness.

“I need you to be okay.” Len confessed, unable to fight the blush creeping over his cheeks. “If today hasn’t proven that, I don’t know what will.”

“I thought you were angry with me.” Barry whispered, as if afraid of Len's answer.

“I haven't gotten to anger yet.” Len said. “Still pretty much stuck in depression.”

Barry nodded. “I know the feeling.”

“You really need to rest.” Len pushed. “I know you haven't been sleeping, and I know you've been barely eating because your friend’s monitor you. Otherwise, I think you wouldn’t eat at all. Get better.”

“Just for you?” Barry smirked.

“If you want.” Len agreed.

Barry smiled, a real genuine smile. “I guess I can do that. Just for you.”

Len returned the smile.

“Promise me one thing though.” Barry said as Len shifted to leave.

Len cocked an eyebrow.

“Stay.” Barry said. “Please stay. At least til I fall asleep.”

Len nodded. “I can do that.”

“I miss you.” Barry said as he closed his eyes. “I miss falling asleep next to you.”

“I'm right here.” When Len had turned into such a big softie, he wasn’t sure. All he could do was never let Lisa see or she’d never let him hear the end of it.

Barry nodded slowly, obviously the conversation having exhausted him. Len grabbed Barry's hand and squeezed. It was unbelievably satisfying when Barry squeezed back, if very lightly. It didn’t take long for Barry to fall back asleep.

“I take it your conversation went well.” Wells, who Barry did not mention was a professional ninja, said, suddenly appearing.

“It’s not really finished.” Len shrugged.

Wells nodded. “It never is.” His voice gave the tone of experience.

Len knew he should go, but he couldn’t help but stare at Barry for a little while longer. Barry asleep was a rare sight, since his nightmares and Flash duties kept him busy at all hours of the day. Len, who stayed on more of a normal schedule even when Captain Cold, was often asleep before him and nightmares and jobs kept waking Barry before him. Before finding out he was the Flash, Len was more than a little worried about how much Barry slept since it didn’t seem like enough to be considered remotely healthy. Now that he knew, it did little to lessen the worry but it did lessen. The Flash could push himself that much more than a normal human. Didn’t mean that Len wasn’t going to take advantage of this moment though.

Len snuck a glance at Wells, and saw the man was doing math problems on a board in the other room. It seemed he knew to give them privacy. Len was grateful. He turned back to Barry and sighed silently. Len's hand was aching to run itself through Barry's hair but not only did he not want to wake the man, but he wasn’t sure whether it was appropriate. He and Barry had never clarified what their relationship was now. If it was still anything at all but Len was willing to wait and find out. Barry needed his rest.

Len settled for a quick kiss in Barry's hair and brushing his thumb lightly over Barry's cheek. Then he grabbed his stuff, Cisco and Caitlyn had left the cold gun untouched thankfully so he didn’t have to go searching for it, and headed home. Lisa was probably wondering where he was.


End file.
